Talented youngsters set for Indian odyssey

With just ten days remaining until the FIFA U-17 World Cup kicks off in India, the official squad lists for the tournament have been announced. A total of 504 young hopefuls can now begin to dream of following in the footsteps of famous graduates of the tournament, such as Neymar, Ronaldinho, Luis Figo, Toni Kroos, Gianluigi Buffon and Andres Iniesta.

Some emerging talents will be on display at India 2017. They include USA forward Josh Sargent, who shined at the recent FIFA U-20 World Cup Korea Republic 2017, where he scored four goals. His Stars and Stripes team-mate Tim Weah will be a familiar name to football fans worldwide. The Paris Saint-Germain striker is the son of African footballing legend George Weah.

Many eyes will also be on Brazil’s Vinicius Junior, who recently signed with FIFA Club World Cup holders Real Madrid, and France’s Amine Gouiri. The Lyon man set a UEFA U-17 European Championship scoring record with nine goals in five matches at Croatia 2017. India’s fans, meanwhile, will have high hopes that forwards Aniket Jadhav and Komal Thatal can lead the hosts to new heights during the competition.

The youngsters will showcase their prodigious talents across six host cities: Goa, Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Navi Mumbai and New Delhi. The tournament begins on Friday 6 October with action in Groups A and B. This includes the hosts India playing their first-ever match in a FIFA competition when they take on USA in New Delhi. Kolkata will host the final, which will take place on Saturday 28 October.